Eglisham, George

Scribal manuscript in a single secretary hand, with title-page and prefatory "Petition to the King," also with poems on Buckingham and his assassination, and two remonstrances of the House of Commons from the Parliament of 1628, contemporary foliation ("321" to 370"), 95 pages, plus blanks, "1626" [c.1630s—40s]; occasional nicks and slight staining. Green morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe

acquisition: Hamill & Barker, 1965

George Eglisham was a Scottish physician and client of the Marquesses of Hamilton. He became personal physician to James VI/I in 1616 and remained close to the monarch for the remainder of the reign. Eglisham also indulged in religious controversy and in 1626 published Prodromus vindictae in ducem Buckinghamiae, which accused the royal favourite of poisoning both the late King and the Marquess of Buckingham. Unsurprisingly he fled the country thereafter, and remained in Brussels until his death in 1642. This manuscript is an English translation of Buckingham's inflammatory pamphlet that was printed in 1642 (Wing E256). It probably predates the printed edition but may be transcribed from a copy of the printed pamphlet, one edition of which gives a false imprint of 1626 (STC 7548). The foliation suggests that this item originally formed part of a larger manuscript volume.